


Protector

by vallahwillbemyheaven



Series: Gangster AU [14]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Buried Alive, Emotional Abuse, M/M, Non-descriptive suicidal thoughts and actions, possible death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 05:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4864952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vallahwillbemyheaven/pseuds/vallahwillbemyheaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray was never sure how in the hell they got in these situations where someone’s life was threatened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Protector

Ray was never sure how in the hell they got in these situations where someone’s life was threatened. Sure, it kind of came with the ‘Sniper’ position on the team to notice when people’s lives were threatened, but it didn’t stop Ray from getting annoyed when one of them did something stupid that could cause them to be shot and killed.

These thoughts were coming from the fact that Geoff had gotten himself surrounded during a ‘meeting’. Geoff, of course, had his gun on him, but when you’ve got a three way standoff and it’s a two against one, one gun is not enough. Ray had been trying to get the damn shot for ten minutes now, making sure to huff into the microphone when Geoff caused a shift in where people were.

Things were clearly about to go off over there as Ray watched through the scope, grumbling as he watched Geoff tensing up. “Crow?” Ray asked, having finally got a shot. He saw Geoff give a bare minimum nod before taking the shot, which left the other man maybe slightly in shock, giving Geoff enough time to shoot him in the chest.

“Thanks, Ray,” Geoff said over the headset, turning and giving the window Ray busted for that shot a thumbs up. Ray rolled his eyes and laughed, pulling back from the window.

“No problem, Geoff. It’s my job, after all,” Ray responded. He was already on his way out of the building. “Good thing you’re smart enough to think to bring me along, huh?”

Geoff chuckled. “Yeah.”

–

Gavin and Ray were coming back from a nice dinner between the two of them, holding hands, which Gavin was swinging, as they walked. Gavin was going on about how Geoff had planned a weekend away in a month’s time, and Ray was just enjoying Gavin’s voice, really.

It both kind of hit them as a kind of shock when they were pulled into the alley. Their hands being ripped apart as two guys jumped them wasn’t a particularly fun experience, and Ray hit a wall pretty damn hard.

Fists were flying and hitting him in the stomach and he definitely heard some homophobic slurs being thrown around, but what Ray had focused in on was the fact that he could hear Gavin whimpering with a scream or yelp thrown in every so often. These guys were big, so the guys overpowering Gavin and Ray didn’t really come as a surprise.

Ray growled, hearing Gavin in pain cheering him on in a way. He socked the man directly in front of him and kicked him backwards. Ray heaved in a breath of air now that his stomach wasn’t getting pummeled. Ignoring that man in favor of helping Gavin, who was getting kicked into the wall, Ray jumped on the second guy’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck and refusing to let go, even as the man, in an attempt to get Ray off him before he ran out of air, bludgeoned him into walls. He was out like a light quickly, due to the amount of air that use of force needed. Ray grinned, turning his focus on the other guy, who was seemingly in shock against the wall.

There were feet and fists flying as Ray pounded into the guy, growling out warnings about ‘If you do this to my boyfriends again’ and stuff like that. It was kind of terrifying, seeing Ray get mad like that. But as soon as the man was curled up in a corner, unable to move, Ray attention was on Gavin.

“Gavvy, are you okay? You aren’t hurt too badly, are you?” Ray asked gently, kissing Gavin and giving him a smile.

“Well, I’m probably going to have bruising and it kind of hurts to move,” Gavin admitted, wincing and holding his stomach area as he shift. “That’s definitely going to be a nasty bruise.”

“I’ll call Jack to pick us up then. We’re only fifteen minutes away from home, it shouldn’t be too much trouble,” Ray had stated, and Gavin smiled.

“Thanks. For that, I mean, Ray. Just…thanks.”

“It’s no problem Gav. Those guys were mean fucks anyway.”

–

Ray had had trouble sleeping the night he walked down to see Ryan curled up on the couch, crying with a gun in his hand. Ray had immediately turned his attention onto Ryan, eyes wide, wanting to help with whatever in the hell was going on.

“Rye-bread? What’s up?” Ray had asked, sliding to sit next to the man and gently removing the gun from his hand. Ryan had barely looked up, tears flowing freely down his face as he tried to formulate an answer.

He chewed on his lip for a long time, trying to process what he was about to say. “Do you guys love me? Do you really truly love me?” Ryan had asked quietly, his voice cracking as he spoke. He buried his face into his arms again as Ray’s eyes widened.

Ray reacted rather quickly, pulling Ryan into his arms. “Of course we love you, Rye-bread. Why wouldn’t we?” Ray had questioned tenderly, kissing whatever expanse of Ryan’s face and neck he could reach.

“Because when we ran into Edgar the other day he said-“

“Fuck Edgar, Ryan. He said that to fuck with you, alright? We love you. We do.”

“I love you too.”

–

How in all hell Jack had ended up in a damn fist fight on top of a moving train was beyond Ray. He was racing next to the train in his car, the hood drawn back. He hoped desperately that if Jack fell off, he fell into the car. Ray had been yelling at him for five minutes to jump out, trying to shoot the other guy off with his hand gun, but doing that and driving was a bit difficult.

Ray nearly had a heart attack when Jack slipped off the train finally, barely making it into the car. After a dazed minute, Jack finally moved, clearly up any fear that he was dead. Ray was handing him the handgun, telling him to shoot the guy down now, smiling back at him in the rear view mirror.

“Glad you landed in the car.”

“Glad you thought to drive by as cushioning. I would have killed myself if I had fallen on the ground.”

“I still might kill you for getting in a fist fight on a moving fucking train.”

“Yeah yeah Ray. You love me too much to kill me.”

“You are so lucky that’s true.”

–

“Michael! Shit!” Ray yelled as both of them dived behind a dumpster, panting. They had just been chased down the street by police and the cops ran past just after they had dived. Michael and Ray’s chests were heaving as they got their breaths back.

It wasn’t often they were in this much shit with the cops, but with Gavin sick, they had to rely on hiding from cameras. Michael had gotten caught on camera, sending nearby cops after him, so Ray, being a courteous boyfriend, ran with him to help him out.

“Think we should stay back here for a while?” Michael had asked.

Ray nodded. “Yeah. Cops are still hot on us, I think.”

Michael smiled. “Bless your quick ass feet though. I could never run that fast.”

“I have got to get you out running or some shit. We’re basically criminals, we gotta be able to run.”

Michael chuckled, kissing at Ray’s neck. “Running sounds like a later activity, I think.”

“I agree completely.”

–

So Edgar had managed to get them completely fucked over this time. Getting chased down in an airport parking lot by guys with guns, running low on ammo, not how any of the guys wanted to spend a Saturday, really. Ray was trailing behind, taking out some of the guys hauling ass after them before turning around to run again.

Michael and Geoff were trying to help as frequently as possible, but considering their low ammo supply, they weren’t very helpful. Gavin was in the van they were nearing, hiding behind a door and trying his best to help out. Being at a distance, it was a miracle he had hit two guys at all.

Gavin screamed out of nowhere and all of the men turned to see Ray hitting the ground, three bullets going through his torso. Ryan was the first to react, angry yelling emitting from the man as he tried to dash forward to Ray, feeling angry tears form in his eyes. Geoff grabbed him and forced him to run away from Ray; running back would mean ending up the same as him. Jack had to force Michael to move at all, shoving him towards the van with a deep sorrow filling his eyes.

They all dived in the van, Geoff starting it up and turning it around, ducking as gunfire shot through the windshield and grabbing the submachine gun he kept in the van for emergencies. He growled, setting it on the dashboard and gunning down the remaining men because God damn it as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Ray was dead.

Gavin was sobbing from the back over the van and one glance in the rear view mirror would find Jack curled around Gavin, trying to calm him down as silent tears fell down his own face.

After all Ray had done for them, after all he’d done to keep them safe, they couldn’t keep him alive and that was the most soul rotting feeling in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part of this fic is optional


	2. Not Quite Yet

It had been a few months since Ray had died and no one had been coping well. When they had gone back for his body after the gun-show, Ray had been moved. Having to bury and empty casket with nothing but a rose in it hadn’t been fun.

Gavin had taken to hiding out in his apartment, locking the door and refusing to allow anyone to see him. Ryan had started stay at his house more often than not, blaming himself because Edgar had been the indirect cause of Ray’s death. For a long time they all thought the relationship was going to fall apart, until Michael pulled their asses together for a fancy dinner.

Things had gotten better after that; they were all back to sleeping in the same bed at least, kissing each other in the mornings. Geoff and Jack had gotten back to what they were good at, heists, just to get the money flowing for them again. They considered moving to a different city for a while, but they all decided in the end that Austin was the best place for them.

Waking up without Ray was still hard for all five of them, and would probably continue to be for a very long time. Ryan rarely slept anymore, instead going to his own home to release his sorrow in the same way he released his anger. He always came back by morning, but by 11 P.M., he’d be gone again, not to be seen until 6 the next morning.

Other habits had gotten worse. Gavin was getting worse and worse about eating and sleeping while he was doing hacking jobs, Geoff’s drinking had gotten worse, and Ryan was probably killing his lungs with that pack a day shit. Michael’s rage had gotten worse as well, going out of his way to pick fights. They were all pretty sure they were losing whatever they had before, where they could be functioning human beings. It’s surprising how grief does that to you.

Jack had decided enough was enough one day and pulled them all together for a movie night, putting in old mobster movies that they all used to watch after a job went wrong in a way that slightly inconvenienced them. It was nice and in the least brought smiles to their faces again.

At some point during the movie marathon, Ryan had to take a call and got up to go into the kitchen and do so, because he could still see the movie from the kitchen, but his chatter wouldn’t be disruptive. He lent on the counter, smiling as he answered the phone.

“Hello?” Ryan asked quietly, so as not to disturb everyone else. It was the first good night they’d had in months. Plus, watching Michael throw popcorn at Gavin almost made everything feel normal again.

“Why hello there Ryan. It’s good to hear your voice after some very long months,” said Edgar. Ryan’s eyes went wide at hearing the bastard’s voice and he quickly vacated the kitchen to head upstairs, out of earshot, which had Geoff staring at him as he went up the stairs. Geoff seemed to be the only one who noticed Ryan had left the room, mainly because Jack was focused on the movie and Michael was focused on pinning Gavin to the floor.

Ryan growled into the phone when he was out of earshot. “What the fuck do you want, Edgar? Haven’t you done enough damage for one lifetime?” Ryan asked, free hand clenched tightly as he shut the door to the bedroom with his foot, grinding down on his teeth while he waited for Edgar’s response.

“Me? Damage your life? Whatever are you talking about, Ryan dear?” Edgar questioned in a mocking tone, chuckling into the phone. Ryan furrowed his brows angrily.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, you fuck,” Ryan hissed, nails biting into the skin on the palm of his hand as he tried his best to control his anger at hearing the man’s voice.

“Oh yes, your precious, what did you call him again, ‘Ray of sunshine’? He’s actually what this little chat is about, Ryan. That little funereal service you and your boyfriends pulled a few months ago, burying a bouquet? Precious.”

“Shut the fuck up Edgar.”

“Oh, now Ryan, is that any way to speak to someone you should be praising?”

“Why in hell would I ever ‘praise’ you?”

Ryan heard Edgar chuckle. “Funny you should ask. See, I’ve been planning Ray’s actually funereal for these long months and today just so happens to be the day. It’s going to be a very small occasion without you boys, you know,” He said with such a nonchalance that Ryan started grinding his teeth again.

“Why are you telling me this now?” Ryan asked, louder and angrier than he had expected to. He cringed, hoping no one was paying attention downstairs. He refused to ruin their night with Edgar.

“Oh because, you know…” Edgar trailed off with a chuckle before a loud scream rang through the phone, so loud Ryan flung his phone onto the bed and Ryan himself covered his mouth; that scream had sounded so familiar, but the man could not place it. Or at least he didn’t want to, false hope and all that.

“Sound familiar, Ryan? It should.”

“Stop fucking with me, Edgar,” Ryan said, as soon as he picked up his phone. Not a second later, he got a text message alert. Pulling his ear away, he saw that Edgar had sent him a picture. It was of Ray, though he looked filthy and his hair had gotten long and he was restrained, but it was Ray Narvaez Jr. There were tears running down his filthy face, but it was Ray.

“Believe me yet, Ryan?” Edgar asked with laughter in his tone. Ryan wanted to believe Edgar wasn’t screwing with him, he wanted to so badly.

“You could have taken that photo a long time ago, Edgar. You had the time,” Ryan said, aware that the taking of the photo meant that Ray hadn’t died that day. The thought that Edgar had Ray for any amount of time had Ryan wishing he had died, because he knew Edgar, and he knew Ray, and he knew getting Ray back know would mean that therapy was going to be a constant in their life for a bit, like it had been after Ryan had managed to get out of Edgar’s life.

“I could put him on the phone, if you’re really that cynical,” Edgar said, completely serious. Ryan muttered something under his breath about what a dick Edgar was.

“Put him on Edgar. Please,” Ryan said, the please came as an afterthought. He was worried Edgar wouldn’t for a second until he heard Ray’s voice on the other side.

“Ryan?” Ray asked shakily.

“Yeah, X-Ray, I’m here. Are you okay, babe?” Ryan followed up. He could hear Ray breathing heavily and thought of the scream from earlier came back to him. “What did they do?”

“I’m fine,” Ray stuttered out. “T-They didn’t do anything.” Ryan recognized that sound in Ray’s voice. When Ray was being threatened, he made himself much weaker than he actually felt, making his voice shaky and cowering in corners. He realized then that back when he was part of Edgar’s gang, they used to call the victims’ families and tell them to say they were fine while a gun was pressed to their head and that image didn’t sit well with Ryan.

“You believe me now, Ryan?” Edgar asked, a tone of nonchalance in his voice as he spoke. Ryan swallowed thickly as he tried to process the information that Ray was still alive.

“What do you want Edgar?” Ryan asked, willing to do anything to get Ray back. He’d even go back to Edgar if it meant Ray got to live. Ryan pushed his bangs back, where they fell into their usual assembly.

“I want to ruin you, Ryan. Like you did me,” Edgar said, sounding sickeningly sweet. Ryan shuddered.

“Killing Ray isn’t going to get revenge on me. It’s just going to take an innocent life,” Ryan argued, trying his best to save Ray from Edgar.

“Oh, yes it will. It will break your heart, along with four other people’s which is a plus in my eyes. Isn’t he the youngest, Ryan? 24? Must feel great to know he’s going to die, then,” Edgar snapped, venom in his voice. Ryan cringed, remembering that Edgar thought he had died in that last fight, and that he had been 24 at the time.

“Edgar, I’m sorry!” Ryan pleaded, running a hand down his face in panic because Edgar had just told him that Ray was alive and was now going to kill him. He was so distressed, he didn’t notice Geoff looking into the room with an anxious look on his face. Ryan was clutching at the edge of his shirt. “Please, just don’t kill him. I’ll come back, Edgar. Please.”

“I’ll send you the last video of Ray, don’t you worry. I’ve got his coffin all picked out, too. He’s being put in it right now. Pity we don’t have a tuxedo to put him in; isn’t he fond of those?” Edgar inquires as if it is usual information that he should or shouldn’t know. “Oh can you hear that? He’s begging. How pathetic. Can no one die with dignity anymore?”

“Edgar please, please don’t kill him,” Ryan practically begged, rubbing away the first tear to his face.

The call hung up after that, and Geoff walked in almost immediately after, annoyed by the fact that the call had been Edgar, assuming he was tormenting Ryan and not really catching on because he was maybe slightly drunk. He wrapped his tattooed arms around Ryan, noticing the other was crying with an angry look on his face.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Geoff asked gently, pulling Ryan onto the bed as he stared at his phone, trying to figure something out.

“Ray’s alive. Edgar’s going to kill him and I have no way of finding him in time,” Ryan said, voice cracking in anguish as Geoff’s eyes went wide.

“Ray’s alive?” Geoff asked in an excited tone, hopping off the bed and wacking Ryan with his arm on accident with the motion. Ryan rubbed the back of his head as he nodded and got kissed by Geoff. “Well, if Gavin can track Edgar’s number down to a location, then maybe we can save him, yeah?”

Ryan nodded and Geoff was out of the room quickly, Ryan following after him. Their feet on the stairs brought everyone else’s attention to them.

“Edgar has Ray. Ray’s alive. Gavin, can you trace a phone number to a location?” Geoff explained quickly.

Gavin nodded. “I can at least try,” he said, taking in the information that Ray was alive rather slowly. Michael seemed to be the first to process it, eyes going wide and his hand running over his mouth.

“So that’s what you were begging about…What’s he going to do to Ray?” Michael hesitantly asked, watching Ryan with a careful eye. No one was really sure if the news Ray was alive was good or bad, because it meant he had been with Edgar for months.

“He’s going to bury him alive. As soon as Ray’s in the ground, we have around 5 and a half to six hours if Ray doesn’t panic,” Ryan said very dryly, which sent everyone’s eyes wide. “To quote Edgar, ‘I’ve got his coffin all picked out, too. I he same thing he says whenever someone is being buried alive. Grab a shovel.”

Ryan looked very guilty, because he was sure if he hadn’t walked out on Edgar, none of them would have been targeted. He chewed on his lip as he and Geoff walked the rest of the way to the bottom of the stairs, everyone getting up to leave, movie night completely forgotten.

“I don’t know if I can track him, but I can try,” Gavin said quietly as they headed to the van.

“Trying is all we really have right now, so it’s better than nothing,” Ryan said, handing Gavin his phone as both of them got into the back of the van. Gavin got to work immediately, even before Michael had gotten in and shut the doors and Geoff and Jack had taken the front seats. Jack started the car, waiting for Gavin to find him. Hopefully.

It took an hour for Gavin to track the number to a place called ‘Walnut Creek’. It was a nature preserve and Jack took off almost immediately. It took them fifteen minutes to reach the place, but they now had to find Ray.

As if on cue, Edgar called Ryan and Gavin’s signal got updated. Michael took a picture of that signal with his own phone, waving Geoff and Jack out of the car as everyone slipped on their headsets.

“Ryan. I know you’re looking for you little boyfriend. It should be said he’s been in the ground for a significant amount of time now,” Edgar proclaimed, sounding very smug about it.

“I know,” Ryan responded in a defeated tone.

“I could give you a hint to where he is. But you’ll have to find me first. And since I know that you have a hacker, I left my phone in a dirt pile. Have fun,” Edgar chimed.

“Edgar, how in the hell am I supposed to find you throughout this whole thing?”

“I’m at the lake, if that helps. You should come alone, preferably without that little ear piece. I could have my men little the ground where Ray is buried with bullets and really kill him, you know,” Edgar said, a cheerful tone to his voice as Ryan swallowed.

“Alright.”

Ryan slipped off the ear piece as he hung up, worry in his eyes. He shushed Gavin, who was about to ask what he was doing. “If I go meet Edgar without any assistance, he’ll tell me where Ray is, alright?” Ryan asked.

“He’ll kill you,” Gavin stated, knowing exactly how obvious it was when he grabbed Ryan’s arm to prevent him from leaving. Ryan frowned, giving him the puppy dog eyes the Gavin himself actually used, but they weren’t working on the Brit. “Don’t.”

“Gavin, it could save Ray.”

“And we could lose you in the process and this is not how this is going to go down, alright?” Gavin said, slipping something in Ryan pocket so skillfully he didn’t even notice. He frowned when Ryan pulled his wrist away, setting his phone and ear piece on Gavin table, tucking his gun in the back of his pants before covering it with his shirt.

“I’ll be fine, Gavin. I’ll have a weapon on me.”

“You haven’t convinced me you’ll be alright, but considering you’re going to be stubborn. Fine,” Gavin said, and Ryan was in such a hero-mode state he didn’t question it, instead heading out to the lake that Edgar would be at, stopping at a map of the park and heading off in the direction he needed to go.

As soon as Ryan was far enough away, Gavin pressed his hand to his ear piece. “Which one of you is closest to the van?” Gavin demanded, already working on activating the Gps he had slipped into Ryan’s pocket. “Ryan’s gone off to meet Edgar and I need someone on his ass or we’re going to have too many possibly-deads.”

“Why didn’t you stop him? I’m on my way,” Michael called out, turning around, as he had in fact been the closest, taking a path through the trees instead of the obvious trails Geoff and Jack had been taking.

“I tried. He was very adamant about going. Which is why I keep around tiny GPS’s wrapped in condom wrappers. It’s rather genius.”

“So that’s where that condom wrapper came from.”

“Yeah.” Gavin and Michael had started doing what they did best on stressful missions; discussing off-topic stories. The one they were currently on was the condom wrapper Michael had found in his back pocket a year ago that no one would lay claim to. Gavin had slipped it in there because he feared Michael was cheating. Instead, he found out Michael had been going under a bridge to help out a homeless family that lived there, bringing them food and part of his cut when he could. Never let it be said Michael Vincent Jones couldn’t be a saint.

“Where is he headed, Gavin?” Michael asked, bringing Gavin out of his brief memory.

“Towards a lake, if the way he was tracing a path on the map has anything to say about it,” Gavin observed. Michael chuckled over the head sets, bringing a small smile to Gavin’s face.

“Never doubt a Free’s ability to observe, huh?” Michael said, stopping by a map he saw before he entered the trees, aligning his path with the lake before continuing on.

“Exactly, Micoo,” Gavin chanted, chuckling at his own pet name for Michael which had spawn out of his inability to actually pronounce his name. Now he liked to stress it so that it was a pet name and not just Gavin saying the word. The pet name thing had actually caught on, too.

Michael and Gavin’s banter ceased after that, both concentrating on the tasks at hand. Ryan, in the meantime, had reached the lake, and with it, Edgar.

“How good of you to show up, Ryan,” Edgar greeted bitterly, arms crossed over his chest and a smirk resting on his face. Ryan closed his eyes for what felt like a long second, taking a deep breath before he confronted the other.

“I’m here. Where’s Ray?” Ryan prodded, not wanting to delay Ray’s being underground any longer than he needed to. While Ryan may know how to break out of a coffin buried underground due to Edgar’s ‘training’, Ray probably didn’t and was in fact running out of oxygen.

“I’ll get to that, Ryan. But first, let’s talk about you,” Edgar said, sneering and lifting his chin. Edgar was short than Ryan by a few inches, but right now he felt like he was so much taller with the way Ryan’s heart strings were being played with.

“You know, we were still dating when you left me for those jackasses. I thought you were dead, Ryan. Dropping me a letter would have been nice. Didn’t you say you loved me Ryan, hm? What, were you lying to me?” Edgar asked, pouting. Ryan was tensed up and cringing, knowing that Edgar was doing his best to manipulate him into feeling guilty for getting out.

Ryan grit his teeth, refusing to respond, or even acknowledge the statements. “Where is Ray, Edgar?”

“Oh, don’t ignore me now. I’m sure you didn’t love them while you were aiming a gun at their heads. Do you think they would love you if they knew you almost blew bullets through their heads, Ryan? Aren’t you glad I told you not to because the police were coming? If I had let you take that shot, they wouldn’t even be here now.”

He wasn’t actually lying. That was part of the reason Ryan had been so guilty when he finally met Geoff and Jack and for a very long time kept to himself. But being around them had made him realize something.

Edgar was an emotionally abusive asshole who deserved everything he got. And maybe even more than that. Think of Geoff and Jack had Ryan gritting his teeth, reminding himself that he didn’t have to take this, that Edgar was a little man with power issues, that Ryan could take him.

Ryan very quickly stopped listening, marching right up to Edgar and lifting him by the collar. Making sure that Edgar was forced to look him in the eye. “Where. Is. Ray,” Ryan said through gritted teeth, almost smiling smugly as he watched Edgar go from completely in control of the situation to suddenly not, fear in his eyes.

Edgar nodded his head to a fresh dug but well hidden area near the lake and Ryan dropped him into the water. “Michael, you can come out now. And maybe call Geoff and Jack. They have the shovel, after all,” Ryan said, walking over to the area as Michael aimed at Edgar with his gun. “Just let him go. He’s not worth wasting a bullet in.”

Michael came to stand next to Ryan, who was working on digging out the grave with his bare hands, helping him out while Edgar fled. If Ryan was being totally honest, he didn’t let Michael shoot Edgar because Edgar had been right about something. He had been in love with him, right up until he had met Jack and Geoff and learned what being around decent people was like again.

Jack and Geoff were there quickly, walking over to Ryan. Jack was the one who dug out the coffin; Geoff was the one who pried it open to reveal a completely immobilized, blind, and mute Ray. They quickly got the restraints off of him, everyone pretty much in tears. Ray could barely hold himself up, so Ryan offered to carry him back to the van.

The relieved smiled and tears of joy that spilled down Gavin’s face when he saw Ray for the first time in month was probably the sweetest part of the reunion. Within five minutes, Ray and Gavin were making ‘X-Ray and Vav’ jokes.

Over the next few months, Ray got ‘put back together’ as people like to say. Haircut, new glasses, Nap time, Team Lad Style, and a therapist who went by Betty. Ray had nightmares a few times a month which got better over time, and all of them were very understanding. They liked to sleep with Ray in the center of the bed, to remind them that he was still here, grounded to the earth.


End file.
